The Sonderkommando was set up in a partially ruined wing of a Russian base; some rooms were still usable, others had been sealed off with boards. I was received by the head of the Kommando, a slender Austrian with a well-trimmed moustache just like the Führer’s, Sturmbannführer Alois Persterer. He was a man from the SD who had been a Leiter in Hamburg back when Bierkamp was heading the Kripo there; but the two didn’t seem any closer for it. He gave me a concise outline of the situation: in Prokhladny, a Teilkommando had shot some Kabards and Balkars associated with the Bolshevik authorities, along with a number of Jews and partisans; in Mozdok, aside from a few suspicious cases handed over by the Fifty-second Corps, they hadn’t really begun. Someone had mentioned a Jewish kolkhoz in the region; he would look into it and take care of it. In any case there weren’t too many partisans, and in the frontline areas the natives seemed hostile to the Reds. I asked him what his relations were with the Wehrmacht. “I can’t even say they’re mediocre,” he finally replied. “They seem just to be ignoring us.”—“Yes, the failure of the offensive is worrying them.” I spent the night in Mozdok, on a camp bed set up in one of the offices, and left the next morning; Persterer had suggested I attend an execution in Prokhladny, with their gas truck, but I had politely declined. In Voroshilovsk, I introduced myself to Dr. Leetsch, an older officer, with a narrow, rectangular face, graying hair, and glum lips. After reading my report, he wanted to discuss it. I told him my impressions about the morale of the Wehrmacht. “Yes,” he said finally, “you’re completely right. That’s why I think it’s important to reestablish good ties with them. I’ll take care of relations with the OKHG myself, but I want to appoint a good liaison officer in Pyatigorsk, with the Ic of the AOK. I wanted to ask you to take this position.” I hesitated for an instant; I wondered if the idea really came from him, or had been suggested to him by Prill during my absence. Finally I replied: “To tell the truth, my relations with Einsatzkommando 12 are not the best. I had an altercation with one of their officers, and I’m afraid it might create complications.”—“Don’t worry about that. You won’t have much to do with them. You’ll have your quarters at the AOK and you’ll report directly to me.”
